An Unexpected Meeting
by autumnangelwrites
Summary: If Steph had known that her mission would turn out like this, she probably would have stayed home.


_**a/n:**_ _This fic was created via a combination of my love for Stephanie Brown and my roommate's love of all things Hawkeye. I've tried to stick fairly close to the characterizations I've seen, but I'm not sure how I did with that. Happy reading!_

 _Also, for any new readers, this fic is a piece in my 20 day writing challenge. The prompt was Hawkeye, and since my challenge has focused on Batman thus far, this crossover just kind of happened._

* * *

 **16\. An Unexpected Meeting**

It was incredibly ironic that the sharp snap of Steph's grapple line was _not_ the worst thing that had happened to her that day. Despite the high speed plunge to her death, the Batgirl remained remarkably calm—though slightly exasperated—and wished that she had the kind of life where this sort of thing registered as surprising.

She had already been in a bad mood, even before the mission. An exhausting exam, a shit ton of homework, and a surprise visit from Mother Nature had soured Steph's mood before she even touched the cowl for the night. When Oracle had her report to the Batcave just after evening had fallen, the young woman had known that her night was only going to take a turn for the frustrating. Sure enough, when she arrived, she had been given a mission that promised no action and no sleep.

Batman had instructed her—with a very serious expression that Steph would have never managed to pull off—that her target was going to be following a man, who was following a low risk mobster, who was following a petty thief, who was following a hitman, who was following Bruce Wayne. Steph tuned out the unnecessary—something about distrust in the crime ring, with a hefty side of backstabbing—and focused on what was truly important: _she was playing babysitter for a fifth rate scumbag that probably wasn't even going to get in on the action._

Despite the obvious low-risk nature of her mission, Bruce was careful to cover all of his bases. The actual hitman would be taken down by Nightwing, since Bruce, Tim, and Damian would all have to be present for whatever gaudy event was being held. The fact that Dick was also on the case meant that Steph was basically guaranteed to have a boring night, and the looks that Damian and Bruce gave her stated that they both knew it. Tim was adorably/annoyingly worried about the whole thing, managing to convince her that he was worried about her wellbeing with just enough sincerity to be insulting.

The cherry on top of the shit-storm of a night was that the whole damn thing was taking place in New York City. Steph would be arriving in the Batplane with Dick—which was honestly the highlight of her shitty day, because Bruce's toys were _cool_ —but she would still be farther away from home than she particularly wanted to be. Even better, since all of the normal players would be out of town, Gotham would be left to Red Hood for the night, which made Bruce _all kinds_ of twitchy. According to Dick, who was way too chatty on the ride over, Bruce had tried to find ways around leaving the city to Jason for a solid _two weeks_. That amount of obsessing hardly ever came back with no results. Apparently Bruce had even considered letting Superman borrow the suit for the night, and that was enough to cement Steph's opinion. Bruce was stressing _way_ too much over this.

Because she had a shitty day, it only made sense that she had an even shittier night. It turned out that dude-who-was-following-the-man-who-was-following-the-mobster-who-was-following-the-thief-who-was-following-the-hitman-who-was-following-Bruce-Wayne was _way_ more hardcore than previously believed. He had led her around New York for half an hour, though Steph had managed to pick of both the man and the mobster in while she gave chase, so she generously awarded herself bonus points for being able to efficiently multitask.

Then immediately subtracted half-credit for failing to see _he had sneaked up on her, pay attention Steph._ Dude had obviously managed to get behind her, as supported by the loud snap of her line and the immediate death plunge that followed.

All Steph could think was, _Of course._

Which is why the jerk that brought her back up to the roof of the skyscraper took her by surprise. That certainly didn't fit the trend.

Even stranger was the couple that had (quite literally) given her a lift. A man and woman matching purple uniforms—even down to the bows! Steph could appreciate attention to detail—were standing mere feet from where Steph had sprawled along the concrete platform, severely sore and confused. At first she thought they were yelling at her, but then she quickly realized that they were yelling at _each other._

 _Rude._

"—and I _had him,_ Clint! I called it and everything!"

"I call bullshit! You were two blocks away, Kate, you couldn't call your mother from over there."

" _Excuse you,_ " Kate snapped, but she was grinning. "How would you know? You were staring at that waitress down on Fourth Avenue!" Clint didn't even look ashamed.

"Yeah, but she was cute, right? Even from this high up. Plus, she works at an ice-cream shop! Totally worth it."

"So what you're telling me is that we're stopping in for a bowl after—"

" _Hey!"_ Steph snapped, tired of being ignored. Two twin glares focused on her, and she immediately took a step back. "I mean, hey! Nice to meet you. Lovely night we're having. I'm Batgirl, the new vigilante on the block. You know, the one that really doesn't want to get drop-kicked off of the building you just fork-lifted me back onto or anything."

Tim's concern was starting to make a little more sense now, even if he _could_ be a condescending asshole.

The woman, Kate, blinked a few times. Clint scratched his head. They exchanged a glance.

"Shit," Clint said.

"Your fault," Kate said.

"What's going on?" Steph said. She was completely ignored.

"To be far, she's wearing a very ominous costume." Clint raised his hands in a 'what can you do?' gesture, looking entirely too unconcerned.

"She was pretty close behind him," Kate agreed, then smirked. "But if you would have let _me_ take the shot…"

"You're just saying that because you want to win the contest! Find your own villains to capture!"

"Hey, I think you're forgetting who's winning this—"

" _What is going on?"_

Kate and Clint looked back at her again. They sighed in unison. Steph was part impressed, part offended.

"We need that guy you were chasing," Kate finally told her.

"We were supposed to be getting him and we ended up with you," Clint admitted _._ "Our bad."

"Wait a second," Steph said, feeling as though she was about twenty steps behind this whole evening. "Are you telling me that the whole reason I'm not currently a Bat-pancake is because you _accidentally saved me?"_

Both archers shrugged.

"We were going to get you," Clint clarified, obviously seeing her disdain through the cowl. "We were just going to get him first." Kate nodded.

These two were way too unconcerned about Steph's near plummet to death, and she was beyond done with this mission. Before she could tell them this, however, Steph's 'low-risk target' decided to swoop up and attempt to finish the job.

"Why's he going after me?!" Steph yelled at her fellow vigilantes, dodging attacks that were way too fast to be beginner's skill. "I thought you wanted him!"

She didn't wait for her co-heroes to answer, delivering a solid kick to her attacker's face before pulling off a twirl that she was kind of impressed with and planting her knee firmly against the man's testicles. He dropped like a sack, and Steph let herself pant for a moment.

"Huh," Clint said, standing several feet away and looking suspiciously sweat-less. "That was easier than I thought."

"You didn't even help!" Steph snapped indignantly. Kate, also looking suspiciously sweat-less, approached the groaning man and ripped off his mask.

"No reason to prolong the inevitable," she told her partner, ignoring his appalled look.

"You have to work the mystery, Kate. It's all about the presentation!" Steph rolled her eyes, trying not to think of how similar that sounded to Dick. Speaking of Dick, where the hell was he? Wasn't the Batfam supposed to stick together?

"Recognize this guy?" Kate nudged Steph's shoulder, bringing her attention back to the man that had attempted to kill her twice in one evening. What Steph saw made her jaw drop.

The man was balding, with a saggy face and sunken eyes. He looked to be middle aged, and he was pale as snow. She took a step toward the guy and took a closer looked. It couldn't be… But it was.

This guy was a total fucking stranger.

" _No!_ " Steph sputtered, completely indignant. "No I don't! What the hell, dude?" Steph usually didn't take it personally when villains tried to kill her. It was an unpleasant aspect of the hero business, but she had accepted it long ago. Now, though, she was a little offended. She didn't even _know_ this guy. At least the other villains that came after her with the intent to kill were somewhat noteworthy. They were familiar. She knew them. They had _bonded._

This guy didn't even look _kind of_ familiar.

He did look offended, though. Steph blinked, then wondered how _she_ could have possibly pissed off her would-be murderer by _not recognizing him._

"Yes you do!" the man shouted, spittle flying toward her. _Ew_. She exchanged a disgusted glance with the purple duo. "You ruined my life! You took everything from me! I swore to get revenge!"

Steph mentally ran through the scum that had promised her retribution. She frowned.

"Nope."

"Oh, come on!" The man was getting more worked up, cheeks turning a splotchy, unattractive red. "You've got to remember me! You kicked me in the ribs! You broke one of my teeth." Steph made a face. "You know me, Batwoman!"

At that, Steph stilled.

"Wait a second."

"You remember!" the man cheered, as though this were something to be proud of.

"No, you idiot." Steph placed a hand on the bridge of her nose, massaging it through the cowl. It did nothing to ease the building headache. "I'm _Batgirl._ Not Batwoman. _Batgirl."_

"There's a difference?" The man questioned, a look of honest confusion on his face.

Steph resisted the urge to knock the man out.

Clint did it for her. Steph wondered if she should be upset, considering Bruce would want explanations and Steph didn't have any idea of where to start. _Oh, sorry Bruce, the dude was just following petty criminals that were following Bruce Wayne in some sorry attempt to lure out the Batwoman in the_ _ **wrong damn city.**_ Nothing about this day made sense, and Steph was cramping something fierce. In the end, she sat down and heaved a sigh. Three hours to go until Bruce's event ended.

"Wow," Clint told her, eyes wide. He was apparently impervious to her 'GTFO' attitude, and he laid a hand on her shoulder. "You've had a shitty day."

"You don't know the half of it," Steph told him seriously.

"Ice-cream," Kate said decisively. "We're getting ice-cream."

Three hours later, Steph met Nightwing at the rendezvous point and solemnly handed him a mint chocolate chip ice cream cone.

"Don't ask."

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 **end notes:** _These characters were super fun to write, and I love the idea of Steph bonding with Kate. This may turn into a series of drabbles, since this piece was so fun, but I'm not sure yet. Hope you guys enjoyed it!_


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